Cultural Effectiveness: Contending with Algorithmic Bias
March 16 @ 12:00 – 1:00 EST
Speaker Bios
Ilinca Barsan
Director of Data Science
Wunderman Thompson
Ilinca Barsan is a director of data science at Wunderman Thompson, where she builds creative tech that’s both inspired and fueled by data, machine learning, and AI. She has a passion for weird side projects, storytelling with numbers, and that sweet spot where code and creativity collide. A social scientist by training, Ilinca was born in Romania, grew up in Germany, studied in Scotland and is currently based in New York after stints in Singapore and London and an MSc in Social Science of the Internet from the Oxford Internet Institute, with a specialization in social data science.
Amanda Bower
Machine Learning Researcher
Twitter
Amanda Bower is a machine learning researcher on Twitter’s META (Machine Learning Ethics, Transparency, and Accountability) team working on a range of topics including measuring unfairness in machine learning systems as well as mitigating rich-get-richer dynamics in social media systems. She received her PhD from the Applied and Interdisciplinary Mathematics program at the University of Michigan.
Janelle James
Senior Vice President, IUU
Ipsos
Janelle James is an experienced marketing strategist, consumer expert, and DEI specialist with a passion for changing the world. Her career spans 20+ years, includes multiple marketing disciplines, and has enabled her work to touch over a billion people. She currently leads the Media & Tech sector for Ipsos Qualitative ensuring the best resources, approaches, and thought leadership are brought to the category. Janelle enjoys learning about new cultures and has lived in the US, France, Italy, and the UK. She holds both a BA and MBA from Harvard University.
Kathy Sheehan
Senior Vice President
Cassandra
Kathy Sheehan, Senior Vice President, CASSANDRA, Kathy leads the Cassandra team within ENGINE Agency, which is focused on helping clients build culturally relevant brands through leveraging insights from trendsetting young consumers. Kathy has spent her career identifying cultural trends to drive successful innovation opportunities for her clients. Most recently, Kathy was Executive Vice President and General Manager of GfK Consumer Life, and prior to that was at Ogilvy & Mather.
Kathy serves on the Advisory Board of the Rutgers University Customer Experience program as well as the FIT Home Products Advisory Board. Kathy speaks frequently at various trade events and has been quoted widely in various media, including CNBC Business Center, BrandWeek, Ad Age, and The New York Times. She is also a contributing author to “Sustainability: How the Cosmetics Industry is Greening Up” (Wiley, 2014).
Kalinda Ukanwa, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Marketing (Modeling and Analytics)
University of Southern California
Kalinda Ukanwa is Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Southern California. A quantitative modeler, Professor Ukanwa researches how algorithmic bias, algorithmic decision-making, and consumer reputations impact firms. She is the winner of the 2018 Eli Jones Promising Young Scholar Award and a finalist for the 2018 INFORMS Service Science Best Student Paper Award, 2019 Howard/AMA Doctoral Dissertation Award, and the 2020 AMS Mary Kay Doctoral Dissertation Award. In a prior life, Professor Ukanwa was an industrial engineer, financial analyst, and finance executive at Walt Disney, Citigroup, Viacom, and Kaplan.
Hui Wang
VP/Director Data Sciences
Publicis Media
Hui Wang currently serves as the VP of Publicis Media’s Global Data Intelligence Team with a focus in analytics services. In this role, she collaborates with the analytics and research teams across the globe to scale innovations and best practices that solve clients’ major challenges. Grounded in her ten years of experience in developing predictive modeling, she champions for algorithm literacy and ethics within Publicis. She conducted agency wide training in reducing bias in data and analytics and presented on Algorithm Bias to the Publicis Data Ethics Council. She leads the measurement taskforce in the Once for All Coalition, Publicis’ initiative to increase investment in minority owned media and diverse audiences.